Ghanaian referees snubbed for U-17 tourney

Ghanaian referees have again been ignored by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in the forthcoming referees African U-17 Championship in Morocco.

Ghanaians are conspicuously missing from the 26-man list of match officials, including 14 assistant referees, selected by the continental body for the eight-team tournament scheduled for April 14-27.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) suspects that the absence of Ghanaian referees from the CAF Elite Referees Panel served a contributing factor for being ignored for the tournament, which serves also as the qualifiers for Africa’s representatives for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates later in the year.

Similarly, Ghanaian referees were ignored by the continental body during the just-ended African Youth Championship held in Algeria.

Additionally, no Ghanaian made the list of prospective match officials for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Referees for the African Under-17 Championship have been drawn from hosts Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Somalia, Mali, Comoros, Namibia and among others.

Ghana’s Black Starlets have been placed in Group B alongside Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Congo, whilst hosts Morocco, Gabon, Tunisia and Gabon make up Group A for the tourney which will see the semi-finalists represent Africa at the global championships.